Control pedals are typically provided in a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, which are foot operated by the driver. Separate control pedals are provided for operating brakes and an engine throttle. When the motor vehicle has a manual transmission, a third control pedal is provided for operating a transmission clutch. A front seat of the motor vehicle is typically mounted on tracks so that the seat is forwardly and rearwardly adjustable along the tracks to a plurality of positions so that the driver can adjust the front seat to the most advantageous position for working the control pedals.
This adjustment method of moving the front seat along the tracks generally fills the need to accommodate drivers of various size, but it raises several concerns. First, this adjustment method still may not accommodate all drivers due to very wide differences in anatomical dimensions of drivers. Second, the position of the seat may be uncomfortable for some drivers as it nears the steering wheel. Therefore, it is desirable to have an additional or alternate adjustment method to accommodate drivers of various sizes.
Many proposals have been made to selectively adjust the position of the control pedals relative to the steering wheel and the front seat in order to accommodate drivers of various sizes. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,643,525, 3,643,524, 5,632,183, 5,697,260, 5,722,302, 5,819,593, 5,937,707, 5,964,125, and 6,609,438, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, which each disclose an example of an adjustable control pedal assembly. While these adjustable pedal assemblies may adequately adjust the position of the control pedal to accommodate drivers of various size, the “feel” of the pedal to the driver changes depending on the adjusted position of the pedal. More specifically, the initial force required to depress the pedal changes. This change is due to the fact that the ratio of the distance between the pedal pivot axis and the pedal and the distance between the pedal pivot axis and the control pin changes as the position of the pedal is adjusted.
Many proposals have been made to obtain adjustable pedal assemblies with constant ratio, that is, the ratio stays the same as the pedal is adjusted between a full forward and a full rearward position, so that the feel of the pedal to the driver remains the same regardless of the adjusted position of the pedal. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,643,525, 3,643,524 and 5,913,946, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, which each disclose an example of an adjustable control pedal assembly which attempts to obtain constant ratio. While these adjustable pedal assemblies may maintain a constant ration, they each require a rather complex mechanism that is relatively expensive to produce and/or result in a relatively large package size.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an adjustable control pedal assembly which maintains a constant ratio and is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce without an overly large package size.